Statement by H.E. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Permanent Representative of Guyana, at the General Assembly Debate on Question of equitable representation on & increase in the membership of the Security Council & other matters related to the Security Council

Mr. President,
Let me first take this opportunity to congratulate Their Excellencies Tareq Albanai, Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait and Alexander Marschik, Permanent Representative of Austria, on their reappointment as Co-Chairs of the ‘Intergovernmental Negotiations on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Council’ for the 79th Session. Guyana also commends both Permanent Representatives for their exceptional leadership during the 78th Session and applauds their significant efforts to achieve progress in the IGN. 

We were especially encouraged that through their leadership, the IGN was able to make a consensual input into the just adopted Pact for the Future. On this latter note, Guyana takes seriously the commitment made by our leaders to strengthen the IGN and we hope to work closely with the entire membership to achieve early and urgent reform.

Mr. President,
There is a widespread call across the UN and the international community as a whole  for the Security Council to undergo significant changes if it is to truly become fit for purpose and fulfill its mandate as set out in the Charter. . The Council is undoubtedly one of the most important mechanisms through which effective action can be taken to secure peace for peoples across every corner of our world. 

However, after nearly two decades since intergovernmental negotiations formally commenced, Security Council reform appears to be an intractable challenge, though its urgency has not subsided. Indeed, reform has come into deeper focus in recent times and is now more urgent than ever.

Mr. President,
Nearly eight decades after the UN’s establishment, its membership has nearly quadrupled, several new global economic powers have emerged, and geopolitical relations are in constant flux. Put simply, we are in a vastly changed world, and yet the Council has not adapted to respond to these changes, with its composition expanding only once, in 1965. It is demonstrably not sufficient and morally wrong that 78 years after its establishment, the Security Council is controlled by 2.5% of the membership of the United Nations. More can and must be done to create a Security Council that is more representative, transparent and agile.

For most of the world’s citizens, the Council is viewed as an ineffective and unjust body controlled by the world’s superpowers who are more interested in advancing their own interests than in achieving peace. They have seen, for example, how the veto continues to stymie Council action at critical times when civilians, including thousands of children, are in urgent need of protection. Our citizens have started questioning even the utility of the Council. In such an environment, the Council risks becoming irrelevant. To restore both the Council’s effectiveness and its legitimacy in the public eye, we must transform its outdated composition and unfair decision-making rules. 

Mr. President,
The matter of equitable representation must remain a primary priority of any package of reforms that are proposed.  Guyana supports expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership and is of the view that this expansion should be done on a regional basis. This includes permanent membership for Africa and for my own Latin American and Caribbean region which are the only regions not represented in the permanent category.

The impacts of Africa’s underrepresentation on the Council cannot be ignored, and Guyana takes this opportunity to reaffirm our support for the Common African position as expressed in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. Africa has demonstrated that it has a strong comparative advantage in matters of peace and security on the continent, and its allotted representation on the Council should reflect that – both in terms of numbers and decision-making prerogatives.

Also of critical concern is the use of the veto. In recent times we have seen over and over again that the ability of only a privileged few to wield unfettered power to block the will of the majority is at the root of the Council’s dysfunction. The ability of the Permanent members to unilaterally block action seen to be at odds with their own national interests is unsustainable. Guyana is a firm proponent for the abolition of the veto. However, in any scenario where it continues to exist, this power must be extended to all new permanent members. To create a situation of separate and unequal classes of permanent membership will only perpetuate existing imbalances. 

Mr. President, I close with a recognition that Council reform is not elusive even though it is tempting to despair given the years that have elapsed since reform was first placed on the agenda. We must redouble our diplomatic efforts and continue to work to achieve reform.

The stakes of this debate are as high as they have ever been. Continued failure will breed disenchantment and disorder. Our collective security and stability are inextricably linked. The impacts of conflicts are not confined to borders, and as such each of us has an obligation, a responsibility, to be fully committed to this effort and to long last make substantial and tangible leaps forward toward reforming the Security Council. Guyana believes that “new life” has been instilled in the process and the needle has started to move. Let us take it further.

I thank you.